


Unexpected

by Starblade



Category: DCU, Gotham (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I Don't Even Know, Original Character(s), Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:22:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23512303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starblade/pseuds/Starblade
Summary: Your name is Stella Falcone and your parents died when you were at the age of 3 in a car crash but somehow you unexpectedly managed to survive the accident. You never really had a place where you could call home because you just kept moving from one place to another, from one relative to another. The last relative you’re going to move in with is your uncle, Carmine Falcone. The door to Gotham is wide open. What unexpected adventurous mess will you plunge into?
Relationships: Jeremiah Valeska/Original Female Character(s), Jeremiah Valeska/Reader, Jeremiah Valeska/You, Jerome Valeska/Original Female Character(s), Jerome Valeska/Reader, Jerome Valeska/You, Jim Gordon/Leslie Thompkins, Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne, Victor Zsasz & Reader
Comments: 15
Kudos: 37





	1. Welcome Home

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!!!  
> Soo this is my first fanfiction I have written so I'll have lots of gaps here and there, so please drown me in all your constructive criticism they are welcomed at anytime. I also won't be writing smuts cause... that's too intense for me >///< (that's a blushing face) and also I won't be writing proper swear words cause of I'm Christian XD but I feel like I will need to use it otherwise some characters just won't feel completed. There is a bit of Victor x reader but it's not as much as Jerome or Jeremiah. Other than that have fun with reading my first fanfiction!!!

Victor was rummaging through the cabinets inside the well polished luxurious kitchen, wanting to munch on a few sweets, specifically muffins. After Liza was strangled by Carmine Falcone no one baked those delicious golden brown muffins. Victor leaned against a brown table putting his hands in the pockets of his black pants looking defeated. 

"Victor, I've got a job for you," Carmine said, disrupting Victor's train of thought.

Victor lifted his head up straight away, looking into the eyes of Carmine indicating for him to continue about the information of the job.

"My niece is going to be moving in with me starting from today, but I won't be here for a week because I have some business to take care of down South. Right now there shouldn't be word that my niece is moving in, but news spreads fast in Gotham, it won't stay that way for long. Take care of her and keep her safe." 

"Yes, boss." Victor replied firmly. 

"Oh and also she's a teenager, you know how they are moody, sassy, secretive and they have attitude problems. Don't let that tip you off." He gave a stern look at Victor knowing how his temper can flare up fast, but then ends it with a smile and a pat on the shoulder knowing that he will be able to accomplish this task.

Victor nodded. He wasn’t satisfied with the idea of babysitting a moody teenager over the week but he respected the Don and knows that he was worried for her niece, most people would. But the fact of a teenager itself was annoying enough if he wasn’t careful he would’ve rolled his eyes. Ugh can’t believe I have to entertain a teenager for a week.

You sat in the backseat of a black sleek limo peering out of the darkened window watching the grey towering buildings of Gotham pass by your vision. Some people were walking normally along the footpaths, some sat curled up in a ball with scruffy clothes and messy hair and you even saw some break out into small fights. You couldn’t help but feel a shivering sensation crawl up your skin. Well this place is going to be quite interesting, you thought to yourself. As the car slowly stopped you finally arrived at a medieval looking mansion. Daaaammn, I’m going to be living in a freaking palace. That’s hella dope. You step out of the car and see guards heavily armed, it shocks you a bit because you never get to see guns that much at all. Well I guess this is what happens when you’re a mob boss. You took a deep breath in and stepped into the luxurious palace ready to meet your uncle that you barely know. 

The Don turned around and smiled warmly. “Ah Stella, so good to see you again. You’ve grown up to be such a fine young woman.” He embraced you in a big warm fatherly hug and you hugged him back.

“Thank you for letting me move in with you uncle Carmine.” You smiled warmly back. You didn’t really remember much about uncle Carmine but you thought of him as a badass grandfather that kicks ass if he was by anyway angered, after all he is the King of Gotham’s underworld. Your eyes shifted to the well dressed man in a black tuxedo behind your uncle. Your eyes met and locked for a few seconds until you broke the eye contact. He gave off an uncomfortable and dangerous aura yet you were curious about him.

Your uncle noticed your focus shift. “Oh that’s Victor Zsasz and he’ll be taking care of you when I’m gone.”

Taking care of me? You’re joking, I ain’t no baby and hell I don’t want a babysitter. “I’m 17 now, I’m sure I can look after myself, Uncle.” You asserted politely. 

“Well you just turned 17 no more than a week ago.”

True.

“Speaking of you turning 17…” Carmine took out a small rectangular navy velvet box out of his suit jacket handing it to you. 

“Uncle you didn’t have to, it’s already been a week.” You grinned.

“How can I not buy a present for my favourite niece.” He grinned back.

“Your only niece.” You corrected him and you both chuckled. You took the gift and carefully opened it up as if there was going to be an expensive delicate glass inside. Of course it’s going to be expensive and delicate, he’s the bloody mob boss. You gasped when you saw a glistening moonstone star necklace with a fine gold line outlining the shape of the star and it’s cord made of pure gold with a few small round pieces of diamond scattered on the cord evenly. “This is beautiful,” you breathed out, astonished.

Carmine chuckled and smiled widely. “Welcome home, Stella.”

You felt warm inside. You hugged your uncle one last time before he left. He apologized about having to leave when you finally could move in but you shrugged it off and said that there was plenty more time to catch up after he comes back. You smiled and waved a goodbye. Maybe, just maybe Gotham could be the place you could call home.

  
  



	2. Oswald's Club

_Circus. Ginger. Snake. Laugh_. You woke up abruptly vaguely remembering the weird dream about a ginger boy, you never got to see his face, only his scruffy hair. It was 7.46 am, you normally would have slept in more but you had a random burst of adrenaline pumping throughout your body.

You got dressed in comfortable clothes and trotted down the stairs, spotting Victor in the kitchen reading the Gotham Gazette. Your mind wandered off to how the interaction between you and Victor had been so awkward last night. You cringed when you remembered how you just stood there inspecting the house while glancing at Victor every now and then, there was awkward long pauses between each broken conversation you tried to start but ended up failing. 

You poured yourself a glass of cold water. “Good morning, Mr Zsasz,” you greeted him charmingly, then took a gulp of the cool water.

“Morning, princess,” Victor responded calmly.

You choked on the water and started coughing. PRINCESS?! WHAT THE HELLL??!!!

“Whoa whoa, easy there.” Victor remained calm and untroubled on the outside but he was just having a bit of fun with the reaction he’s gotten from you. Ever since he saw you he knew that you were like an innocent lamb, inexperienced to the darkness and violence. And he knows that this lamb was going to get stained because no one will ever remain pure in Gotham. 

“What the hell- do you normally spurt out random nicknames?” You asked, while still suffocating and dying. The truth is no one really called you by a nickname, you weren’t really able to connect with them so you were taken back when Victor called you pRiNceSS, especially when you only met him yesterday. 

“Oh no not really, just wanted to see your reaction,” Victor stated bluntly with a smug look on his face.

You scoffed and shook your head, “you’re evil,” you joked with a large smile on your face.

“You can say that,” he smirked with an uneasy dark face.

You didn’t know much about him apart from the fact he was a trusted man of Carmine Falcone. You might actually enjoy his company.

It’s already 3 pm, you go down to the kitchen to grab something to munch on. You informed Victor that you would just be in your room. Of course you weren’t going to be in your room, you’re in a new city and that meant that there was exploring to do. And there was no way you were going to tell Victor.

You let your medium length hair out allowing your brown waves to effortlessly sway with your movement. You inspected your random blonde streak of hair per usual you always had it since you were a child and it’s always been a mystery. You put on a pair of black jean shorts, a tight deep crimson red crop top that showed off a bit of your flat midriff. You slid on black ankle socks and a pair of laced up ankle boots. Lastly you grabbed a black leather jacket and draped it over your shoulders.

Growing up with different relatives really helped you enhance the skill of sneaking out of the house, you’ve always been good at it and have never been caught once. Even though there were guards securing the perimeter you timed how long it would take for them to reach your side when you were inspecting the manor yesterday, secretly. 1 minute and 54 seconds. It was easy, you could get down from a two story house in less than 30 seconds. You opened your window and carefully jumped down it effortlessly with minimal sound. This is already going to be an interesting day.

You’ve walked through the city and stumbled to a specific place that caught your attention. There was a simple elegant purple umbrella illuminated in the centre of a building. You stepped into the bar expecting the inside to be somewhat the same colour sequence to the purple umbrella. But instead it was a classy aesthetic of red lamps and warm yellow lights that filled the room.

“I WANT EVERY SINGLE THING THAT REMINDS ME OF FISH TO BE REMOVED!” A sickly pale skinny man dressed in a black tuxedo screamed out while smashing the embedded skeletal fish in the wall with a hammer. 

The man started limping away and curiosity struck you once again.

You saw a big-ish man sitting by himself wearing a black jacket and mostly grey hair with a few hints of black, he poured a glass of alcohol as he watched the scene unravel. You casually walk up and sit next to him. The bulky man looked you up and down then eventually meeting your gaze. You gave him a harmless innocent smile.

He sighed. “What do you want from me, kid?” 

Wow, are all the people in Gotham so gloomy. “Um, do you know the man over there?” You asked politely pointing a finger to the limping man.

“Yeah, that’s Oswald Cobblepot.” He answered, raising his eyebrow up giving a questioning look and then taking a sip of his alcohol. 

“And who’s this Fish person, why is he so angry with him?” 

He placed his glass down and scoffed. “You don’t know Fish Mooney? Damn, you must be new to Gotham.”

“Yeah, I actually am.”

“Huh, fair enough. Well first of all Fish Mooney is actually a woman, she owned this club before, she was part of the crime family of Carmine Falcone. But then she played a dumb risky game, she wanted to overthrow Don Falcone and rule Gotham's underworld by using a young girl that resembled his mother to catch him off guard. And when Don Falcone figured it out he strangled the girl by himself with his bare hands and got rid of Fish.”

Your jaw dropped. “Unc-, Car-, I mean Don Falcone strangled a girl just like that?!” You couldn’t believe it. Your uncle that welcomed you so warmly had actually strangled a young girl with his bare hands.

“Yep, Falcone is not a crime lord you want to mess with.” 

No way Sherlock.

“Hey, do yourself a favour would'ya, get out this bar and don’t pry more into these underground crime stuff.”

You cocked your head to one side innocently. “Why’s that, sir?”

“You don’t want to get wrapped in these things, these people are... dangerous and you’re a bright young girl and this ain't no place for an innocent lamb.” The man chugged down the rest of his alcohol and left. 

You sat there for a few seconds processing what you have just been told. This city just keeps intriguing you even more. You were just about to get up when you heard a sharp stern voice shout out at you. 

“Hey! You!” 

You halted and turned around to see the penguin-like walking man limping towards you with a tense and sour look on his face.

He slammed his hands on the table so hard you thought that his skinny arms were gonna break. You jolted with the sudden movement. You mentally prepared yourself and looked up at him, giving him a nervous smile. As he examined you closely his face loosened and relaxed a bit, almost as if he was a totally different person from the one that was having a fat rage. 

“What’s your name, kid?” He asked you in a surprisingly soft and nice voice.

“Stella...” You realized he was waiting for your last name but there was no way you were telling him you are a Falcone. “Gallagher.” you added hesitantly.

“Stella... you should go back home, your mother would be worried sick,” Oswald smiled genuinely and patted you on the shoulder. 

It wasn’t very smart of him to assume you had a mother but you brushed it off and appreciated his kindness towards you so you nodded, smiled and took off. 

You walked out of the club and a bulging red poster stared right back at you on a lamp post with yellow bold lettering that read ‘Haly’s Circus’. You set off and walked towards the venue of Haly’s Circus. 


	3. Circus

As you stepped into the multi-coloured lighted circus the cheerful music played in the background and the excited screams and shouts ringed in your ears. You bought yourself a big cotton candy and took a bite of the pink fluffiness and felt the soft texture slowly liquefy into a sweet substance. You haven’t had cotton candy in ages and this really lifted your mood up even more, you continued to happily check out the circus. 

You stopped dead in your tracks when you saw a flaming red haired boy in the distance standing alone in the crowd with his back facing towards you. It must’ve been the boy in your dream. He was very tall and had a well built masculine figure, he didn’t look more than 18 and truth be told from the back he didn’t look half bad. Snapping back into reality you realized that he was now looking at your direction, locking eye contact with you. 

Crap.

You quickly turned around and started walking the opposite direction. You decided to turn your head again to see what he was doing, he was walking the other direction but surprisingly his head was turned towards you and his eyes were still fixed on you, you snapped your head back forward and so did the boy. But you couldn’t help but look at him again, you both met each other’s gaze once again and broke it at the same time sheepishly. There was a feeling in your bones that you would be seeing him some time very soon. 

An hour had passed since the incident with the ginger haired boy and you were ready to go back to the Falcone manor but suddenly you felt a jolt of pain on the temple of your head and it slowly and gradually got more and more painful like a nail that was being drilled into your skull. Your vision blurred and the sound of the circus started to slowly fade away.  _ Circus. Ginger. Snake. Laugh _ . That was the only thing you could see and hear. You groaned and pressed your fingers on your temple hoping it would somehow soothe the pain but it just got worse, you collapsed to your knees clutching your heart, desperately gasping for air. 

“Hey! Dollface!” a shout managed to snap you out of the hallucination. Your hearing slowly regained normally and your vision focused on the ginger boy kneeling right before you. 

Great, another weird nickname.

“Are you ok?” He asked you, his eyebrows furrowed with worry. 

“Yeah, I just had a headache,” you managed to rasp out. Ever since you were young you have had these random small headaches every now and then and those random odd vision-like dreams, but this was surprising, this was on a whole new different level of pain, intensity and accuracy. 

He allowed you to put your arm around his shoulder as he wrapped his firm arm around your waist and held you steadily pulling you off from the ground. He then gently lowered you down to sit down allowing your back to rest on the cold metal trailer.

“I’ll be right back.” He told you and hurriedly went into the trailer and got out with a glass of water. 

You gratefully took the glass of water and chugged it all down, the coolness of the water relinquished the drying thirst in your throat. 

“What’s your name?” The ginger asked, breaking the silence. 

“Stella.”

“Stella,” he repeated, “that’s a beautiful name.”

“Thanks,” you smiled downwards then looked back up at him, “what’s your name?”

“Jerome. Jerome Valeska.”

“Thanks Jerome, you’re a lifesaver.”

“Ah all goods, how could I not help someone that’s as cute as you.” Jerome’s mouth curved up in a cheeky grin. 

You laughed and shook your head, feeling the heat on your cheeks. You were about to say something until you heard a sharp hissing sound beside you. You yelped and jumped into Jerome’s warm arms.  _ Snake.  _ It was a big brown snake with beautiful black patterns covering its body and its pink tongue flicking in and out at you. 

“Scared, Doll?” He teased as he tightened his grip on you comfortably.

“Maybe a bit,” you mumbled and wriggled your way out from his firm arms, your face was burning hot but you hoped that the dim lighting wouldn’t allow Jerome see the red tints across your face. “It’s pretty cool you own a pet snake.”

“Yeah, it’s my mother’s, she’s a snake dancer.” He told you with a blank face.

“Whoa, that’s cool as!”

Jerome shrugged and almost seemed to give an irritated face. “Anyways why’s a cute kid like you alone, shouldn’t you have a guardian or something.” 

You crossed your arms trying to look offended. “Excuse mee, I’m 17.”

“Oh really? Thought you were like… hmmm 10,” he exaggerated, with his mischievous grin back on his face. 

“You were trying to hit on a 10 year old girl? Wow, you’re such a pedo.” You joked while punching his shoulder playfully. 

“Aw Dollface, I saved your life and this is what I get?” Jerome pouted, putting his hand over his shoulder trying to look sad. 

But you swore that you saw him wince when you punched his shoulder. As he lifted his hand off, his shirt sleeve lifted exposing a bit of his skin for a split second. And that was enough for you to see what was covered underneath it, a patch of purple-blue on his pale skin.

“Oh my gosh, what happened?” You lifted up his shirt sleeve gently as he flinched and grimaced. 

“I, uh, bumped into a pole.” Jerome answered through gritted teeth while looking at the ground avoiding your eyes.

There was a lump of brown red sticky liquid in the middle of the big bruise covering nearly his entire front shoulder. The wound was still fresh and you knew that there was no way that a pole could do this unless someone had put additional force to it. 

“You’re not the best liar, Jerome.” 

His emerald green eyes looked into your hazel eyes and then looked away, he took a deep breath in and out. 

“My mother… she gets drunk with her lovers and they have fun beating me up.” He scowled, with a glint of hatred in his eyes.

“What the hell, your mother? How could she do this to her own son?! Haven’t you tried to report her to the police?” You bursted out, you couldn’t help yourself because you just got so pissed. Mothers were supposed to be loving, they were supposed to be kind towards their own children. The children are a part of themselves and to treat them with such abuse is just monstrous. 

“It’s ok, one day it’ll all be over." Jerome sighed looking up towards the star lighted sky. "Well enough about me, I want to know more about you, how's your family like?” He asked, resting his cheek on his hands giving you a dreamy gaze. 

“Uh well my parents died in a car crash when I was 3, I stayed at my grandparents for 6 years then they died and then I moved in with a distant relative for 4 years but they thought I brought bad luck so then they moved me away to another relative for 4 years and left me for the same reason and then I just moved in today with my uncle and he’s got this babysitter slash bodyguard person looking after me when he’s away but he’s not doing a great job at it.” You flashed a grin at Jerome.

Saying it out loud felt great.

“Wow, guess we've got ourselves a pretty messed up family, eh?" 

You liked how he didn’t sugar coat anything by saying he was 'sorry for your loss' like most people do. You didn’t need to pretend to be the right amount of sad, you barely even remembered how your parents looked or sounded like, you don’t even remember whether or not they were good people. 

A cold gust of wind blew and a newspaper came flying to your feet. There was a bald man on the front cover, you snatched the newspaper off the ground reading the bold lettering “GOTHAM'S BEST ASSASSIN STRIKES ONCE AGAIN” you immediately jumped to your feet. Jerome was taken back by such a sudden movement and stood up as well giving you a questioning look. 

“Oh my gosh, I’ve got to go,” you stated bluntly.

“Why so soon? Is your ride going to turn into a pumpkin?” Jerome grinned. 

You shook your head violently. “You know how I told you about my babysitter slash bodyguard person.” You showed the front page of the newspaper at him, “yeah, that’s him.”

“Holy s***t that’s bloody Victor Zsasz?! You’ve got Gotham’s best and most skilled assassin as a babysitter?! Who are you?”

“I’m Stella Falcone, Carmine Falcone’s niece.” the words came pouring out your mouth.

“Damn girl, you’re full of surprises,” he puts his hands in his pockets and looks you up and down. “Well let’s get you a cab first.” 

Jerome opened the car door for you and waited for you to go in the car and sit down. “Hey Doll, wanna meet me here at 3pm tomorrow if you can manage to slip through again?” Jerome asked, almost giving a pleading puppy eyed look. 

How could you possibly deny it. “Yeah, I’d love to.” You smiled widely with your light hazel eyes twinkling at Jerome.

  
  



	4. Basement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: there's descriptions of torture and gory scenes

You opened the black tinted window to your room and slid in silently then closing the window allowing a soft breeze to enter the room sending a shiver down your spine.

“Where the hell were you?” A voice boomed out in the dark behind you. 

You flinched at the sound of such a dark and dangerous tone. He was already creeping up to you in the dark like a shadow, blending in with the pitch black darkness.

You slowly backed away until you felt the cold hard window sill stopping you from going any further. “I, um, I was just walking through Gotham city,” you stuttered. 

Victor was no more than an inch away from you as he stopped. He lifted your chin up with his black leather gloves forcing you to meet his dull dark brown orbs revealed by the silver stream of moonlight running across his face. His eyes stared down at yours as if he could read all your deepest darkest secrets. 

“I’m asking you again, where. Were. You.” It sounded more of a threat than an actual question. 

You gulped, almost trembling. “I was at Haly’s Circus,” you whispered quietly, not wanting to disturb the dormant monster sleeping within him. 

Victor lifted your chin up slightly a bit more as he lifted his chin up more asserting dominance over you. “Go to sleep,” Victor ordered. He left the room and slammed the door shut.

You woke up to the sound of a man’s chilling scream. You instantly sat up and clutched onto your duvet cover, breathing heavily. Maybe you were just hallucinating again. Then you heard another cry from the same person. Whoever it was you knew that it was coming from inside the house, it sounded so far yet so close to you. You grabbed a pocket knife shakily and a torch and started making your way towards the dark hallway down the stairs. 

Can’t the guards hear it? Where the hell is Victor when I actually need him?

There were low grunting noises and muffled sounds that you can’t quite make out. You tiptoed towards the noises and stopped at a plain white wall with a big old oil painting portrait of the archangel Michael defeating the devil. You gently traced the brim of the frame and felt a small button-like object sticking out, accidentally you pushed it down and there was a small ‘click’ sound, the painting slowly creaked ajar. Your breath was trembling with fear and excitement. There was a series of wooden stairs trailing down into the dark unknown. You switched off your torch as you heard the muffled noises become clearer.

“I told you I don’t know where she is.” A man muttered raspily.

“Hm, maybe you don’t, but it’s so sad isn’t it that you were such a loyal dog to her and now she just abandoned you and left you.” 

The second voice sounded playful yet dark and you were familiar to it, you just can’t quite put your finger on it. As you crept closer you saw 2 figures, one large man being tied down to a chair with blood and bruises across his face and the other person standing that you knew too well. Bloody Victor Zsasz. 

“Even if she did abandon me I’ll still stay loyal to her, I’ll never serve that rage driven penguin.” The man tied to the chair spat. 

“Talking tough Butch, well I never assumed you would convert easily so…” Victor grabbed an iron stick with an orange glow on the end. “I’m going to have lots of fun with you,” Victor said in a sickly dark tone.

You watched crouching, hiding behind a wooden box as Victor slowly brought the heated iron stick closer to Butch’s exposed arm. Butch started to breathe faster, he was trying to act tough by eyeing Victor intensely but it took no expert to know that he was scared to his bones.

“AHHHHH!” Butch screamed out but was almost instantly cut off when Victor placed an index finger on his mouth and started sushing him. 

Your eyes widened at such a painful sight, you put your hands on your mouth trying to slow down your loud rapid breathing. You’ve got to stop Victor. 

“Now now, where else should I burn you? Oh I’m sure losing one eye wouldn’t affect the job. Haha.” “Open wiide.” Victor used his index and thumb to widen the man’s eyes and started to edge the iron stick closer to his frighten filled eyes. 

You didn’t know what came over you but before you knew it you stood up and shouted, “Victor!” with the most threatening voice you’ve heard from yourself. It was low and deep full of power and dominance. You didn’t know if it surprised you or Victor more. Victor turned around chuckling and you saw fresh red droplets of blood splattered on his face, he looked insane, he is insane. In most times you would’ve chickened out and gagged but this time it was different, you weren’t affected by the blood, not even one bit. “Oh my, I swear before you were trembling like a lost puppy but look at you now, how feisty.” Victor teased you with a dangerous smirk on his face. 

You knew he was Gotham’s most skilled assassin, he is one of the most feared men in Gotham. He isn’t an individual anyone should anger, but even so you couldn’t care less about how you treated him. “Yeah, whatever Victor,” you snapped back. 

“Go to sleep, Stella, I’ve got work to do.” He said casually then turning to the defenseless man.

“Torturing people?! Are you serious? No freaking way!” 

“The Don ordered it, so I carry it out.” Victor’s voice lowered as he turned to face you and treads closer to you. 

“My uncle would never-” you abruptly stopped midway through your sentence as you remembered what the man in the bar had said to you, ‘strangled the girl by himself with his bare hands’. 

Victor lifted one of his eyebrows, “looks like someone has been sticking their noses in other people’s businesses. Tsk tsk tsk.”

You were speechless, what could you say? You knew your uncle would allow Victor to do such a thing and you didn’t have the power or authority to stop Victor. 

“This is Gotham City, it’s dark and it’s going to get uglier, so bear with it.” 

Both of you silently stared at each other, intensely until you heard the raspy man’s voice speak softly in broken phrases and made your focus shift to him. 

“Please, help me.” 

“Tough luck Butch, no one can help you,” Victor sneered. 

“Wait, just don’t burn his eye away. He won’t be a great bodyguard with one eye missing.” You hated how you sounded so desperate almost like a child pleading for an ice cream.

Victor looked up, resting his chin on his fingers and pretended to think hard. “Hmm, fine. I guess you’re right. Now hurry along, go to bed, kid.” He mocked while shooing you away.

“No, please.” Butch’s voice cracked. 

You looked at him with pity and defeat in your eyes, you mouthed a ‘sorry’ at him and walked away, dropping your head down as the screams continued. You clasped your hands to your ears as tears ran down your face. You played music to the maximum volume to block out the cries of pain from the basement and started to fall into a troubled sleep. 

  
  


“Rise and shine. You must’ve slept well it’s f****ing 12 pm.” Victor grinned widely at you as if you were his lunch walking down the stairs.

“Looks like someone’s happy today, oh yeah cause you f****ing tortured someone the whole entire night.” You mocked him sarcastically. 

Victor’s brows furrowed. “You know if Boss hadn't asked me to look after you would already be dead.” 

“I better make sure he lives a long life otherwise you’ll be coming to tear my guts apart.” You said boredly while spreading nutella on your toast. “Did you let the man go?” 

“No,” Victor said playfully, still eyeing you. 

“Why is he being tortured again?”

“Because he’s the loyal dog of Fish.”

“Right.” You nodded, just as you were about to take a bite of your chocolatey spread toast Victor grabbed it off you and devoured it. You shot Victor an unimpressed glare. 

“What, it looked nice,” he grinned.

Ugh, he’s like an annoying older brother I’ve never had. 

You rolled your eyes and made another toast for yourself while Victor silently walked away. 

You laid down on your light blue duvet bed and stupidly debated whether or not you should go back to the circus to see Jerome. Hell, for all you know he could just be using you to his advantage since you’re a Falcone. Suddenly your mind wandered off to Butch, you haven’t heard him scream since 12. 

Holy cow is he dead?

You quickly and quietly ran down the stairs and turned your head to see Victor snoozing on the couch. You dropped your pace to a walk making sure not to disturb him. When you finally reached down in the basement the man was still tied to the chair. There was a red line outlining the tightened ropes on his skin, his whole body was bruised all over with fresh scars on his arms, legs, and his forehead. He had a black piece of cloth tied to his mouth preventing him from making any noises and his head was dropped low looking towards the bloodied floor. 

“Hey,” you whispered. 

No response.

“Butch?” You whispered a bit louder. 

He immediately snapped his head up to look at you with his eyes filled with terror and his whole body trembling, his breathing started to race as his chest moved up and down very visibly. 

“Hey hey, it’s ok. I’m not going to hurt you.” You told him gently, putting both your hands in the air showing you weren’t holding any weapons. 

His breathing gradually slowed down and regained back to his normal breathing. You felt guilty for not being able to help him last night, you just walked away from him and blasted music out loud so you could sleep while he was suffering down in the basement second by second. You swerved around the patches of blood and managed to untie the fabric from his mouth. 

“Have you eaten or drank anything?” You asked. 

"No," Butch answered shaking his head weakly. 

"I'll go get you some-" you stopped as you saw Butch's eyes widen in fear, fixating his eyes behind you. You swung your head back to see Victor leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets.

“I hope you aren’t bringing him any snacks cause it’ll ruin the process,” Victor warned, walking closer to you then eyeing Butch. He grabbed the cloth and started tying it around his mouth. Butch’s chest heaved up and down, quaking with fear as Victor started sharpening the knife carelessly on a hard surfaced rock, making ringing sounds of metallic noises echoing throughout the basement. 

You were scared for Butch, you hated how you couldn’t do anything to help the poor man. You couldn’t stand to hear his muffled scream and pleads, you had to get out of the house.

"Do you have to do this?" You asked hoping that Victor would miraculously say no. 

"Of course," he replied shooting you a glare.

You knew you couldn't do anything to convince him. “I’m going out,” you said walking towards the door.

Victor stopped what he was doing. “No, you’re not,” his voice low and quiet.

“I’m not going to stay here listening to him screaming. I’m not a sadistic psychopath like you. So I’m going, and anyways aren’t you Gotham’s best tracker? I’m sure you’ll be able to find me.” And with that you left the house and headed to the circus once again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like my chapters are getting longer and longer lol


	5. Ferris Wheel

You played with the sleeve of your sweater nervously as you made your way through the circus towards the trailer. Just as you reached the white trailer with the snake kept in a large red box the door swung wide open revealing the ginger haired boy in a white tank top. In the dimly lighted night, you never realized how his flaming hair was parted effortlessly and slid back or his vibrant emerald jeweled eyes staring back at you and his soft pink lips curving up into a big wide smile as he saw you in an adorable light pink sweater that was just a bit big for you. 

“Hey Dolly,” Jerome greeted you, reaching out his hand for you to hold bringing you into his trailer, “didn’t think you were going to make it since ya know you’ve got a hell of a babysitter. But anyways how did you sneak out again?”

You stepped inside the trailer, it was small and cramped, it was nothing like the Falcone manor but it felt cozy and it was surprisingly very tidy.

“It’s very tidy,” you commented.

“I tried,” Jerome grinned, scruffing his hair.

“Well, I actually didn’t sneak out,” you started answering his question. “He was too busy torturing someone down in the basement.” You rolled your eyes, shuddering at the thought of Butch being tortured right now.

“Oh, just what I expected from freaking Zsasz,” he laughed out, showing his pearly whites. He sat down on the coffee coloured couch and ushered you to sit down with him. “You know, you look even more like a kid especially with your pikachu bag,” he pointed at your yellow pikachu shoulder bag that was slung from across your shoulder down to your waist. 

You felt your face burning up a little, “well that’s because I’m going to patch you up from yesterday.” You explained as you got disinfectant cream and bandages out from your childish pikachu bag. As you inspected his wound you frowned, it was infected. You got out alcohol wipes, “this might sting,” you warned Jerome. 

“Bring it on,” Jerome said smugly with a smirk creeping up his face.

You scoffed. When you gently put pressure on his wound with the alcohol wipes his whole body tensed, showing off his bulging muscles on his arms and his sharp defined jawline as he clenched his jaws.

Focus, focus, focus.

You finished by wrapping the bandage around his arm securely. "There, all done," you exclaimed, smiling back at him looking into his dilated eyes that shocked you a bit. His hand was gripping tightly onto his other unharmed arm that you could see the white outline coming from the pressure.

Jerome’s eyebrows furrowed, “why are you helping me?” 

“What do you mean?” You asked, not really knowing how to answer the question.

He shrugged. “You’re a Falcone, you’re the niece of the famous mob boss of Gotham so why are you helping a random circus kid?”

“Well... I mean you did help me last night so I guess I’m just repaying you back,” you answered smiling sweetly at him.

Jerome was in awe of your sheer innocence and just how pure you are. He wanted to make you his, he wanted to stain you and he wanted to be the only one to do that. Jerome couldn’t help but imagine his lips pursed onto your soft pink lips and your porcelain skin under his. He dug his nails into his forearm trying to fight the urge of pinning you down on the couch. 

Jerome finally released his clutching hands off his arms. “You’re most likely not going to burn in hell like everyone else I know,” he chuckled. “Anyways, let’s go out and have some fun, Doll.” He exclaimed jumping up to his feet and pulling you off the couch. 

You loved how Jerome’s playful personality and how his flirtatious comments made you feel at ease unlike other boys that tried to hit on you. But there was something in the sheen of his eyes that lured you in, the way he looked at you as if he could see right through you and the mysterious look he has in his eyes. 

Jerome lived in the circus, he knew all the tricks and tips to get the rewards. You couldn’t help but be in awe of the fact of how good his aim was when he popped all the balloons and plotted the ping pong balls smoothly inside the red plastic cups. Jerome purposely tries to scare you when you were in the house of mirrors and you would run away screaming. He would come chasing you and catching up to you, tackling you down to the ground playfully as you both laughed like old friends; like young couples. As the waves of laughter cease you realize that you were in an awkward position, a very awkward position. Jerome’s warm body was on top of you pinning your shoulders down on the cold ground. Your heavy breathing was syncing with the red head and Jerome's dilated eyes looked into yours which seemed like forever until there was a random 10 year old boy that shouted, “Mum, look they’re having sex!”

Jerome smirked, "maybe we should," Jerome purred, caressing your flawless rosy cheeks. 

You felt your face boiling hot, you didn't know what to say. You liked Jerome and it was obvious that Jerome liked you too. His eyes were so full of lust whenever he looks at you. He finally got off you and you both stood up running away cracking up.

Stars were decorated on the black night sky and the full moon illuminating the circus. You hugged yourself and the soft grey Pusheen plushie that Jerome won for you tight in your chest as the cold breeze swept past your skin making you shudder. Jerome notices. “You cold, Dolly?” He asked with his pearly whites showing. 

“Yeah, a bit.” You admitted, you definitely didn’t wear enough warm clothes to last an autumn night. 

Jerome took off his jacket and brushed his hands on your neck as he draped the black jacket over you. “Don’t want you to freeze to death when we’re 25 meters off the ground,” he teased.

A man pulled a lever and the ferris wheels started moving. You and Jerome moved up higher in the air. You breathed in as you saw the beautiful view of the lighted, fun-filled circus and the dark shadowy trees silhouetted in the distance. Jerome gazed at you fondly like he was looking at the stars in the night sky as you took a bite out of a cinnamon donut. “Sooo how are you finding Gotham,” he asks. 

“I like it, even though it’s so dark and dangerous but that’s what I like about it.” You paused and looked down at the distant ground you were hovering above. “It’s like staring down a deep dark hole and you don’t know when it ends, it’s kinda... thrilling.” 

Jerome smirked. “You’re so damn interesting.”

Before you could say anything you felt his soft wet lips on yours. You blinked in surprise, your heart was thumping so fast and loud that you were sure that Jerome could feel it. 

Jerome pulled back slowly. “There were crumbs on your lips,” he grinned widely with his eyes filled with lust. 

You bit into the donut again, “I think there’s more crumbs,” you said innocently. 

“F**k, you’re so adorable,” he said through gritted teeth. He smacked his lips on yours but this time with more aggression and this time you kissed him back passionately. 

Jerome piggybacked you and you would squeal when he pretended that he was going to drop you. Jerome lowered you down gently on his couch as if you were a piece of delicate glass. He looked around the trailer as if it was his first time being here, his brow then furrowed. 

“What’s wrong, Jerome?” You asked, when there was worry written all over his face.

He loved it when you called his name like that, so sweet, so innocent. Jerome placed his lips on your neck and kissed it softly, “my mother should be back by now,” he mumbled into your neck, making ticklish vibrations. 

“Does she normally stay this late?” You asked, squeezing your eyes shut tightly as Jerome started sucking your skin harder and harder. Your breathing gradually became faster as your chest started heaving up and down. You yelped when Jerome bit into you which also made you clutch tightly on his injured shoulder accidentally. 

Jerome hissed. "Not there, sugar." 

"Sorr-" 

Before you could say anymore Jerome shut you up by kissing you aggressively on the lips. 

A sharp knock on the door to the trailer resounded through the trailer. Jerome and you stopped and looked at each other with worried faces realizing that his mother might be missing. Jerome got a coat and opened the door revealing 3 people, a man with clown makeup wearing a red showman costume, a pretty woman with brown shoulder length hair, and a man with blonde hair dressed in formal attire with a blue tie strapped securely on his neck. The blonde man notices you in the trailer and then goes back to looking at Jerome. 

“GCPD, need to speak with Lila,” he asserted.

Jerome got out of the trailer and you followed along as your breathing became normal. “She’s not here. Why? What’s happened?” Jerome asked, putting on his grey coat.

“Where is she?” The cop asked. 

“I don’t know she was supposed to be back ages ago,” Jerome answered.

“Are you a relative?”

Jerome nodded. “I’m her son, Jerome.” You could tell he was nervous.

“And who are you?” The cop asked, looking at you. Everyone was looking at you weirdly especially the man with the clown makeup.

You hesitated for a second before you answered. “I’m Stella Gallagher, a friend of Jerome,” you lied. It probably wasn’t the best idea to lie to the cop about your identity but it’s for the best. 

The blonde cop nodded his head slowly, almost seeming to doubt every single word you said. “Jerome, when did you last see her?” he pressed on.

“This morning, just before I went to the library.” Jerome was fidgeting and looking very nervous and scared.

A man wearing the red showman suit came up. “Relax Jerome, your mother’s fine. Gone on a spree no doubt, you know how she is.” He said gently. 

“Gone on a spree? Without her hat, her coat or her purse?” Jerome paused then moved to the snake hissing and moving actively. “Look at Shiba, she's distraught, she knows something’s wrong.”

“Yeah, the snake does seem to be agitated.” the blonde man admitted. 

The man with the clown makeup then went up to the cop and started talking quietly amongst themselves. You held one of his hands and squeezed it tightly letting him know that you’re here with him. You couldn’t say anything like ‘your mother’s fine’ because you had a feeling she wasn’t, not at all, and Jerome felt it too. 

“Let the snake out,” the cop demanded.

“I’m sorry?” Jerome was surprised that the cop would want to let the gigantic snake out of the cage and so were you. 

The cop paused. “Let the snake out,” he repeated again. 

Jerome went to the cage and unlatched the lock. The snake slithered down its cage and started its journey without paying any attention to the people surrounding it. The snake kept on slithering in a fast walking pace hissing and flicking its tongue in and out like the first time you saw it. You were still next to Jerome, you both shared the look of worry with each other as all of you started following the trail of the snake. Everyone stopped as it reached the vehicle with a large wooden storage box attached to it and a white tarpaulin over the top. The cop came up to it and ripped the tarpaulin off, revealing a middle aged woman dressed in snake-like clothes with brown blood dripping down her face and arms. She was long dead. 

“Oh my gosh.” You let out. You’ve never seen a dead corpse in real life and here it is a disorientated corpse covered in blood and knife marks all over. 

You hear Jerome whimper then collapse to the ground with tears running down his face. 

“Oh my gosh. Jerome, I am so sorry.” You knelt down in front of him and embraced him in a warm hug. 

As he looked at his mother’s dead body he cried more, the only thing you could do was hug him tighter, letting him know that you were with him and he wasn’t going to suffer alone. 

“Gosh, I’m so sorry,” you repeated quietly once more. “Is there anything else I can do?” You broke the hug and looked at his red puffy eyes.

Jerome didn't say anything. “Could you come back- tomorrow? I don’t want to be - left … alone,” he managed to say brokenly through the sobs.

“Yeah, of course, I will,” you nodded, forcing a smile on your face. 

“No, you’re not coming back,” a firm voice called out from the shadows. 

F****ing Victor Zsasz. 

The cop immediately lifted his gun at the pale assassin. 

“Hi, Jim,” he waved at the cop with a gun loaded in his other hand pointing it directly at the blonde cop.

“Victor, not now please,” you begged, while still putting a hand on Jerome’s broad shoulder and moving your eyes to the dead woman to try to indicate to Victor that a boy has just seen his mother’s dead cold body and now is not the best time to be having an argument or a shoot off with a cop.

Victor noticed your shift in your eyes and saw the pale dead body. He examined it from afar. “Hm, the murderer has style.” He commented casually. 

You gave Victor a very unimpressed face. 

“What do you want, Zsasz?” Jim held the gun tensely at Victor. 

“Stella.” He answered carefreely. 

Jim gave a confused look.

“Oh, yeah, she lied.” Victor then looked at you and tutted his tongue. He’s been watching stealthily from afar, he was always good at it.

You squeezed Jerome’s shoulder gently, “I’ll come back, I promise,” you reassured him quietly. You got up from your kneeling position and walked towards the two men. You pushed Victor’s gun down which allowed the cop to loosen up a little and lowered his gun down too. “Sorry detective, my name is Stella Falcone, Carmine Falcone’s niece.” You said truthfully. 

“...Right...” he said hesitantly while nodding his head, speechless for a few seconds. He then inspected you to see any similarities between the deadly mob boss and a normal teenage girl. 

“Well we’re gonna leave, bye,” Victor stated bluntly.

You looked back at Jerome again and smiled before you walked away with Victor, you were going to come back, you promised.


	6. GCPD

“You know how to bake muffins?” Victor asked randomly.

“What the hell Victor, it’s 6 am in the morning, no I’m not gonna bake,” you groaned and rolled over in your bed pulling the duvet over your head. 

The oven dinged and you slipped on an elegant grey mitten and got out the 2 batches of the golden brown muffins you made. You placed it on the white marble kitchen table to let it cool. Victor and you sat down patiently and watched the wisp of steam rise up to the ceiling like little children. You didn’t know how but Victor somehow made you wake up at 6 am to bake him your grandmother’s muffins. As the steam finally started to cease Victor swooped a muffin from the tray and devoured it. 

“Mmmm,” Victor let out satisfactorily, “these are even better than Liza’s.” 

You were glad that Victor enjoyed the muffins. “Who’s Liza?” 

“Oh the girl that your uncle strangled.” He replied bluntly.

“...Right… that’s great.” 

You were relieved that Butch was finally free from torture, you hoped that Victor didn’t batter him too much he was in a very bad shape since the last time you saw him. Victor then reached out his pale hands to get another large muffin from the tray. 

“Don’t finish all of it, Gluttony,” you joked. “I need to give some to Jerome.”

Victor perked one of his brows, “oooh, you fancy him don’t you,” he smirked.

“What the hell, Victor! No I don’t!” You denied aggressively. 

“Face is turning red, you’re a terrible liar.” Victor teased.

You cupped your face with your hands embarrassedly then stuck your tongue out at Victor and grabbed a muffin, biting into the warm, soft texture. Mmmm grandmother’s muffins are always the best. 

“Oh and you should probably hide that hickey,” Victor smirked.

“Wait...WHAT?!” 

Victor handed you a mirror and as you looked into it you saw a clear visible patch of purple and blue on the side of your neck.

“S***t!”

You nervously walked up to the door of the trailer and knocked gently on the metallic surface. Then you backed away waiting for the door to be opened, it wasn’t long until the familiar boy opened the door. 

“Hey, Doll,” he greeted with a forced smile on his face.

“Hey, Jerome. I’m so sorry for leaving you yesterday like that, but I did bake extra muffins if you want some,” you said as you brought your hand out showing him the golden brown muffins in the container. 

Jerome didn’t take the container filled with the muffins but instead embraced you in a big hug. You were blown back by the sudden movement but you still hugged him back.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” he whispered. 

A fake cough broke the hug and made you turn around to see Victor in his usual black tuxedo eyeing Jerome intensely. You felt Jerome stiffen beside you and gulp, he was nervous but who wouldn’t be if Gotham’s most notorious criminal was eyeing you down like prey. 

“It’s ok, he gets better,” you said reassuringly. 

Jerome nods his head vaguely. The 3 of you walked towards a black car that belonged to Victor. The car started up and headed its journey towards Gotham City Police Department. The car slowly stopped in front of a large building and a sign in the middle with bold lettering that said ‘POLICE’. You stepped into the police department and saw cops and officers dressed smartly in blue uniforms, there were small chatters filling the room, some were sitting on desks others were scattering around the building. Jim Gordon noticed your entrance and walked up to all of you. “Stella,” Jim greeted you with a nod. “Jerome,” he did the same. “... Zsasz…” he greeted hesitantly and slowly. As the police officers heard the word ‘Zsasz’ the small chatters instantly turned into dead silent and all their attention was on the bald skinny man standing next to you. Some immediately put their hands on their waist where they have their gun placed, their shoulders were tense with fear. Victor paced around the spot with dangerously wide eyes scanning across the room. All the cop's gaze was following him intensively. The tensed cops nervously went back to their business when Victor shot them all a dark cold glare. 

“Umm, Victor, you should probably go,” you suggested. Reading the situation as is. Victor isn’t welcomed here and everyone here is on the edge of their seats. 

“Boss’ orders,” he responded roughly back. 

“I'm in a freaking police station.” 

Victor gave you a hard glare. 

“There's cops everywhere,” you continued, “and didn't you say Detective Gordon was a pretty good cop.”

Jim’s eyes widened in surprise but then he quickly shifted back into his poker face. 

Victor’s jaws clenched tight. He never liked this babysitter gig and you are a drag to look after but it was his job. He closed his eyelids and exhaled through his nostrils. “Fine,” he said flinging his eyelids wide open. He spun on his heels, with his back facing everyone. All eyes were on him as he silently exited out the building. 

You and Jerome were brought to a small room with a regular grey table in the middle by Jim and his partner Harvey Bullock. As you were close to him you could smell the alcohol reeking from him. You and Jerome both sat and waited for Jim patiently. Jerome was still nervous, fidgeting, and twiddling his thumbs. You’ve got to admit that Jerome almost seems like a different person from the flirtatious outgoing boy you met in the circus. It was constantly nagging at you at the sudden transition but you brushed it off, after all, Jerome did lose his mother. 

Jim Gordon came into the room, “tell me about your mother, Jerome,” He said as he took a seat. 

“She’s my mother,” Jerome answered with a cracked voice. “What can I say? I love her. She’s perfect.”

Your brows furrowed when Jerome said that he loved her mother. But the detective didn’t notice it as he was focusing on Jerome. You couldn’t believe it, after everything Jerome told you about how abusive his mother was to him he said that she was perfect. You couldn’t quite wrap your head around the fact but you brushed it off, for now, not wanting to interrupt the questioning. After all you are only here for mental support. 

“Did she have any enemies? Someone with a grudge?” Jim pressed on. 

“No,” Jerome simply answered back. 

“Boyfriends?”

“No.”

Jim gave Jerome a oh-really? Face. “No?” He repeated questionably. 

“She had lovers, sex partners really. But not boyfriends, she never wanted the commitment,” Jerome admitted truthfully. 

Jim Gordon then leaned in a bit asking, “how did you feel about your mother’s love life?”

“I feel fine about it,” Jerome replied. “If not for my mother’s love life I wouldn’t be here would I?” Jerome continued. 

You pursed your lips in a straight line. This was totally different about what Jerome had told you, he said he hated how his mother would nag him when she was boozing and boning. 

Why is he lying?

“Sex is a healthy human activity,” Jerome explained. 

You looked at detective Gordon and you both shared a what-the-hell face. Jim felt awkward at the sudden statement and looked at you because he thought you might’ve had an intimate relationship with Jerome but it was cleared when he saw your confused face. 

“Do you have any other family?” Jim asked, breaking the awkward pause.

“The circus is my family.” 

You got out of the room because Jim had a few more questions and other procedures he had to do with Jerome alone. As you walked away you accidentally bumped into a tall skinny brunette man wearing a white lab coat. “Sorry,” he muttered, looking down at his shoes avoiding eye contact with you and pushing his glasses up. 

“It's ok,” you said. 

The brunette looked up at you at the sound of your sweet innocent voice and gave you a shy timid smile. 

“Um, I was wondering if you knew where the criminal records are?” You asked. 

The man’s face lit up and smiled widely. “Yeah, of course,” he exclaimed. “Follow me.”

As he started walking you realized he was more talkative than you expected him to be. “I’m Edward Nygma, but you can call me Ed what’s your name?” 

“I’m Stella,” you replied back. 

“Stella,” he repeated. “Ooh,  I’m bright but I’m not clever, I burn but I’m not a bonfire, I sound like I’m a celebrity but I’m not famous, I twinkle but I’m not an eye, I can be seen at night but I’m not the moon. What am I?” 

He smiled as you were furrowing your eyebrows trying to solve the riddle. “Stars?” you answered questionably. 

“Correct!” He grinned. “Did you know your name, Stella means star in Latin?” He beamed. 

You blinked in surprise. “Whoa, I actually didn’t know that.” A small smile crept up on your face. 

Ed smiled at you then stopped at a brown door that had the labels ‘records annex’ on the translucent glass. He stared at the door for a few moments and took a deep breath in opening the door. The room was filled with metal and cardboard boxes and a rectangular table with a lamp on top of it. There was no one else in it just you and Ed and to be honest Ed almost looked disappointed. Ed cleared his throat. “So who are you looking for?”

“Victor Zsasz,” you answered. 

Ed’s brows furrowed and lips were pursed as if he was thinking of a reason as to why you are looking into such a terrible criminal. Just as he was about to speak the door flung open revealing a ginger woman wearing glasses strutting in. “Mr Nygma! Why are you-” as she saw you she stopped and lowered her voice down, “here,” she managed to say in a calm tone. 

“Oh, Miss Kringle, Stella wanted to look into Victor Zsasz,” Ed replied with a big smile on his face.

Her orange ponytail bounced as she walked towards a cardboard box and fumbled through the files while muttering something under her breath. Ed never lifted his gaze from her.

“Here,” she said as she was handing it to you. But before you could grab it Ed already got it from her hand while brushing it against hers. She flinched but didn’t say anything. She walked out of the room with her heels clicking and clacking with every step she took. Ed handed the file to you.

“You like her, don’t you?” You asked.

Ed was flustered and stammered before he could say a phrase, “W-wha I-I. Yeah I do.” He looked down at the ground and did his timid smile. 

You smiled at how bad he was at hiding his feelings. “Well thanks Ed, and good luck with Miss Kringle,” you said and walked out of the room. 

Ed watched you exit the room and the words of encouragement circled in his head. A smile grew on his face and a flicker of hope lit in his heart. 

You leaned on the rail of the stairs while scanning through Victor Zsasz’s criminal record. There were many terrifying new things you didn’t know about him, how he would engrave a tally mark on every person he killed, and how he stabbed his first victim as a ‘gift’ because he thought that his life had no meaning. But you also learned that he was once a normal person, he was born into a wealthy family and he had a bright future in front of him until his parents died in a boat accident which dragged him into deep depression and turned him into what he is now. 

You were thinking deeply about how one incident could make a person twist into something else. If Victor’s parents just didn’t go on the boat he would just be a normal person, and if your parents didn’t drive the car on that day at that time you would be a normal kid and you wouldn't have to move to another school and be that new freak kid. 

“Stella,” a familiar woman’s voice called out to you, breaking away from your trance and slamming the file closed. You looked up and saw Leslie Thompkins walking to you.

“Oh, hi Doctor Thompkins,” you greeted. 

“Please, call me Lee,” she suggested. “What are you doing with Victor Zsasz’s criminal record?” She asked furrowing her eyebrows at you. 

“I guess I got curious about why everyone’s so scared of Victor,” you shrugged looking at the file. 

Lee nodded slowly. “So, what’s Jerome to you?” 

“A friend,” you replied. 

“Not your boyfriend?” She asked with a smile on her face and looked at the scarf around your neck.

You nearly choked on the air but you stopped yourself. “What. No!” 

Lee laughed. She then turned around and saw Jim and Jerome walking up the stairs towards the two of you. 

“Thank you for coming. We'll make sure to call you when we've found anything else out,” Jim informed you and Jerome. 

You and Jerome both nodded and waved a goodbye at the couple and exited out the building. “Jerome,” you said, stopping in your tracks. 

“Yeah?” He responded. 

“Your mother hurt you and you said you hated how she would sleep with other guys, so why didn’t tell the truth to detective Gordon?” You asked. 

Jerome looked down at the floor and exhaled. “Because I realized that my mother really did love me, if she didn’t she would’ve already killed me by now.” Jerome paused with teary eyes. “I guess you don’t realize things until it’s too late.” 


	7. Interrogation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll probably take longer to post up new chapters cause school started because corona ain't that bad here.

You were just about to pop into bed until you heard your phone ringing. It was from an unknown caller, you stared at the vibrating phone debating whether or not to pick it up after all who the hell phones at 10 pm. You sighed and accepted the call. 

“Hello?” You spoke.

“Hi, Stella sorry to disturb you,” the familiar voice started but before he could say anything more you interrupted him.

“Detective Gordon?”

“Yes it is. This is related to Lila Valeska’s case, we need you to get down to the precinct.” He said.

“Did you find the murderer?” You asked, hoping for some good news.

“...I’m afraid so,” he replied. 

Your brows furrowed. 

Afraid so? Isn’t it a good thing? 

“I’ll be right there.”

When you entered the interrogation room Jim was sitting on the table with an elderly man you’ve never seen before. Jim greeted you and you walked over standing beside Lee. You inspected the old man, his blind pale blue eyes staring at you as if he knew exactly where you are and what you were doing. You looked up towards Lee, she didn’t say anything she only gave you a weak forced smile. 

“The hatchet was a clumsy ploy, you wouldn’t try unless you were desperate. Which suggests you’re protecting someone close, someone you love,” Jim continued on his interrogation looking down at the blind man. 

You had no idea about what they were talking about so you just had to watch the scene unravel. 

The old man looked up at Jim uninterestedly brushing away the accusation. “This fantasia was conjured in your blinkered mind, if you could only see what I see-” 

The door opened and Jerome walked in. Jim greeted Jerome just as he did the same to you. Jerome smiled at you and took a seat next to the blind man sitting next to him, Paul Cicero. 

“Did you find out who killed my mother?” Jerome asked politely. 

“You killed your mother, Jerome,” Jim said emotionlessly without leaving his eyes off him. 

You knitted your eyebrows in shock. There was no way Jerome could’ve killed his mother. Why would the detective even think of that possibility? You looked at Lee and gave her an are-you-serious face. She placed her hand gently on your shoulder and pursed her lips. 

Jerome's face was in confusion and shock. “Sir, that’s absurd and and offensive,” Jerome retaliated through teary eyes. 

“That is the truth,” Jim said harshly. “What I don’t know is why this man risked so much to help you...I think he’s your father.”

Jerome scoffed in disbelief. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. My father was a sea captain. His name was Sven Carlson, he died at sea.” 

“What’s the name of his ship?” Jim asked. 

“He worked on a lot of different ships.”

“The one he went down in.”

Jerome stopped. His face shocked in realization. “She never said.” He answered quietly. 

You covered your mouth with your hands as you watched the interrogation unfold. 

“We can do a blood test to prove I’m right, it only takes half an hour. Save yourself a needle,” Jim warned. 

The old man sighed. “I do hate needles, I’m sorry, Jerome.”

Jerome turned to the old man in shock. “What are you talking about.” 

“He’s right, I am your father,” Paul Cicero admitted. 

“No, you’re not. Why would you say that?” Jerome said, his voice cracking. 

“You must have suspected the truth.” 

“No you’re not my father, my mother would never-”

“Your mother was a cruel woman. She was often unkind to me, but she did once love me. And your mother loved you very much that’s why she gave you a better father.” 

Jerome lowered his head down and started sobbing. You were about to walk up to him to comfort him to hug him and tell him everything is going to turn out fine. But you stopped in your footsteps as the sound of his soft crying turned into a quiet laugh. He looked up laughing with a tear trailing down his cheek and his mouth curved up creepily.

You were shocked and confused.

Why is he laughing? 

_ Laugh.  _

No there’s no way-

“My mother was a cold hearted whore, who never loved anyone. She’d never touch a pathetic old creep like you.” Jerome sneered. 

“All these years did you think I was kind to you because I was such a good man? If I wasn’t your father, would I help you as I have after what you did?”

Jerome shot a glare at Jim. “My father. Hm, I’ll be damned.” 

Your vision was getting blurry as the tears started to swell up in your eyes. 

“Oh that’s very funny.” Jerome’s mouth curved up into his creepy smile again. “Bad-dum-chhh.” He said while pretending to hit a drum. “Looks like the b***h got me with a zinger in the end.”

“Why did you kill your mother, Jerome?” Jim pressed on. 

“Oh you know how mothers are, she just kept. Pushing. I’m like fine mom be a whore, be a drunken whore even but don’t be a nagging-drunken- whore. You know? Don’t come yell at me to do the dishes when you’ve been banging a clown in the next ROOM!!!” He yelled and banged the table with his fist which made you jump in fear and free a tear running down your cheeks.

“You know?” Jerome continued and then laughed maniacally. Jerome then looked at you. 

You didn’t know what to do, you just stood there frozen, allowing his gaze to run you up and down as if you were completely vulnerable, completely naked. 

“Aww sorry Dolly I didn’t mean to scare ya,” he said, smirking. 

You were speechless. You didn't know what to say. The only thing you wanted to do was to walk away to run away before more tears start rolling down. 

Jerome’s brow furrowed and his lips curved downward in a frown. You started walking away towards the door. But a hard firm hand gripped you on your wrist preventing you from taking one step further. Jim noticed Jerome gripping onto your wrist and immediately tensed in a ready to fight sitting position. 

“Jerome take your hands off her,” Jim warned. 

Jerome didn’t listen but instead stood up from his chair. You looked up at him in fear as he stared down at you with lust and domination. His hand was still gripping tight on your wrist.

“I will come find you,” Jerome whispered in your ear. He tightened his grip on your wrist which made you wince. 

You shook your head with tears running down, "don't you ever come back." 

Jerome’s grip on you tightened more which made you yelp in pain. That was the cue for when Jim jumped in and punched Jerome in the face letting his hand go off your wrist. Another guard came in and helped Jim pin him to the wall. 

“Admit it you love the darkness!” Jerome shouted at you. “I WILL COME BACK FOR YOU!-” Jerome yelled. Just after he finished his sentence you slammed the door of the interrogation room and was finally out of the chaotic mess. 

You slammed the car door shut as you entered the black car. 

“Damn, that was viole-” Victor stopped speaking as he saw your puffy red eyes and tears streaming down your face. “Did he break up with you?”

You rolled your eyes. “No.”

“You want to talk about it?” 

“No, not really,” you said. But the truth is you wanted to talk to someone. You thought Jerome was going to be someone special, you loved his company, you loved how both of you fit so well like 2 puzzle pieces meant to be. But he was a psychopath that killed his own mother and... you kissed him. You liked him, you fell in love with him. 

Victor leaned against the kitchen table and sighed, grabbing out a silver bottle of vodka from his jacket.

Great, now I need to take care of a depressed teenager.

Victor was swirling his silver bottle and saw you eyeing him as he drank his vodka. 

“Does it work?” You asked, looking at the alcohol longingly. 

“Uh, yeah,” Victor said reluctantly.

“I’ll have some.”

“No way, kid.” 

You deadpanned at Victor and started scavenging through the cupboards. You reached in and grabbed a blue bottle of gin. You shrugged and started to put the glass bottle onto your lips but just as you were about to take a sip from it Victor swooped the bottle away from you.

“If you’re going to drink at least drink it the right way,” Victor said. He got out shot glasses and started pouring the drink in. 

You took a deep breath and chugged the shot down. You felt a burning sensation running down your throat and couldn’t help but cough. 

“Ugh that tastes kinda bad,” you coughed out.

Victor smirked and took a shot. 

You sighed. “He killed his mother…” 

“He’s got style,” Victor admitted and took another shot. 

You deadpanned at Victor and then looked down thoughtfully. “But I still like him.”  You took another shot and winced as it burnt your throat again as it went down.

Victor furrowed his browless brows, he didn’t expect you to still like someone who killed his own mother. You were so innocent, naive and inexperienced with the darkness of Gotham. 

You started chuckling, “He’s got gooood muscleeees. Hee’s sooo hot but UGH! Why do I liiike hiim?” You slurred. 

Victor looked at you in surprise. “Hey, hey, hey let’s stop today, ok? You’re drunk,” Victor said while moving the alcohol away from you.

“NOOoooooo!” You shouted while trying to desperately reach the glasses. But Victor held you back with one arm.

“Let’s get you to bed.” Victor lifted you up effortlessly and carried you walking up the stairs. He got to your room and gently lowered you down on the soft welcoming bed that engulfed you.

You started giggling. “Look, Gotham’s scarieest assaaassin is putting me to beeed hehe.” 

Victor rolled his eyes and pulled the duvet over your body. “I’ve got to admit you are the worst drinker I’ve ever met.”

You giggled in response. 

Victor’s cell phone chimed, he opened up the new message and read it with a blank face. “I’ve got a job to do,” Victor mumbled and started to walk away but you grabbed his wrist softly. 

“You’ll be back, right?” You asked with a serious face.

“Yeah, of course,” Victor replied blankly, turning to face you. 

“Be safe, Vwictor,” you said quietly as your hand loosened and you fell into a deep sleep. 

Victor placed your arm back into the warm duvet and stood in your room in the dark while his dark orbs watched over you protectively and his face loosened with a small smile on his face.


	8. Family Dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys for posting so late I have exams rn TT so please bear with my inactivity or very slow updates for another 2 weeks or so. <3

_ A little girl peered through the backseat of a car window at the grey towering big buildings of Gotham. The little girl’s parents were in the front seat discussing something that was way too complex and twisted for any young child to understand. All she knew was that they were simply leaving Gotham. The car started moving when the traffic lights turned green, the car started accelerating faster and faster as her vision of the city got blurrier. Suddenly the car swerved sharply and the whole car flipped upside down and tumbled across the wide streets. Glasses shattered and a deafening ringing sound resounded through the girl’s ears. She looked up to see her mother’s and father’s lifeless eyes looking back at her and fresh red blood trickling down their face. “MOM!” “DAD!” _

“Hey! Stella!” A voice called out.

You opened your eyes open and saw Victor’s wide eyes looking at you. Just as you were about to get up from bed you felt a stinging pain on your forehead. 

“Ugh. I got a headache.” You muttered while putting a hand on your head. 

Victor already held out his hands and there was a pill resting on his hand and a glass of water in his other. You took the pill and the glass hesitantly. 

“Bad dream?” Victor asked.

“Yeah.” You took the pill and stared at the bed, trying to remember every single detail about the dream. You thought that there was something so familiar about it but you can’t quite put your finger wrapped around it. “Did my parents die in a car crash... in Gotham?” 

There was a pause. “Are you still drunk?” Victor asked with his black beady eyes looking intensely at you.

“Oh… crap,” you said as the memories from yesterday flooded right back in. 

“You got drunk on 2 f****ing shots of gin, you’re the s***tiest drinker I’ve ever met,” Victor commented while he grabbed a chair and sat on it.

“Yeah… I remember... S***t. Did I break down on you?” You asked.

“Yeap. And you also told me about your love life with Jerome,” Victor said with a teasing grin. 

You face palmed your face and groaned with embarrassment. You pulled your duvet over your head and snuggled back into your bed. 

“Hey, get up, it's f***ing 1,” Victor informed you, ripping your duvet away exposing your skin to the cold air. 

“It’s cooold,” you complained.

Victor exhaled through his nose and flung the curtain open which allowed the blinding golden stream of sunlight to enter your room. 

“Ugh, it’s too bright,” you complained again, you shoved your head into your pillow blocking away the light like a vampire. 

“Your uncle is coming back today,” Victor said.

You immediately sat up. “What?! But he’s supposed to be away for like another 4 days.” You said as a strand of your messy bed hair fell in front of your face. 

“Well it seems like he finished his business early, so get ready, sleepyhead.” He flicked his index finger on your forehead which made your head tilt back in response.

“Ow! What was that for,” you grumbled while rubbing your hand on your forehead. 

Victor just chuckled and walked out of your room. 

  
  


As you walked down the stairs to greet your uncle the elegant navy dress swayed past your knees back and forth. Thanks to Victor who informed you that you were going to a fancy high class restaurant for dinner, you knew that you had to wear something that looks rather expensive and elegant. And you knew that this is when you do the whole warm cuddling family union bull. You made sure to wear the star necklace that you got from your uncle. You didn’t want him to be butt hurt that you weren’t wearing it. It’s not like you thought the necklace didn’t look good in fact it’s because it looked so good and expensive you didn’t want to wear it. You’ve seen the people in the streets of Gotham, it just didn’t feel right to wear such an expensive piece of jewelry. 

Before you entered the restaurant you spotted a newspaper rack. CRAZY CIRCUS KID MURDERS HIS OWN MOTHER. You immediately looked at the newspaper and saw Jerome’s mugshot. His eyes screamed crazy and the crooked frightening smile was just absolutely insane. You felt sick and your stomach churned. How could you have liked him? How could you still like him? 

When you entered the fancy restaurant everyone’s eyes were on the mafia boss in front of you. There was low whispering and murmurs. Then everyone’s eyes were upon you. 

You tensed.

“Who is she?” You heard a woman whisper.

“I’ve heard Falcone prefers young women.” You heard another whisper.

What the f**k I’m his niece you sick bastards. 

There were more whispers and murmurs. You blocked the voices out and lowered your head down as you made your way through the suffocating attention. You hated it. The attention, the vile whispers about you, the way all the kids in school used to look at you like a freak. You gritted your teeth and finally, you were away from the attention. You were so glad that Carmine booked a private room. Both of you sat down and food was immediately delivered. But you didn’t feel hungry not after you saw the mugshot of Jerome. 

“How’s Gotham so far?” Carmine asked while he started cutting his steak. 

“It’s good, it’s a very interesting place.” You replied, tracing back all the events that had happened in Gotham from the club to the circus, and to Jerome turning into a maniac you managed to keep a smile on.

“I assume Victor looked after you alright?” 

The image of Victor’s face that was covered in blood that night as he was torturing someone down in the basement popped up in your head. Your whole body nearly tensed but you managed to stop yourself. 

“Yeah.” You said a little bit stiffly. 

But then you remembered how Victor carried you and put you in bed when you were drunk yesterday. 

A genuine smile showed on your face, and you looked down. “Yeah, he was great.”

Carmine lifted one of his eyebrows. “Nothing intimate, I hope?” 

Huh? Intimate? What does he- Oh…

“No. No way!” 

Carmine laughed. “Good, otherwise I would have to talk to him.”

You shuddered at the tone of the voice Carmine used but then quickly brushed it off. 

“You’re going into adulthood soon. Do you know what field of career you’re studying towards?”

“No, not really.”

“Hopefully nothing to do with gangs or mobs?” 

“Oh, no. I’d prefer to stay out of it.”

Carmine sighed. “Sofia-” 

Ah, that 2 faced witch.

“She wants to rule Gotham, she thinks it’s her birthright as a Falcone. She’s not ready and I don’t really want her to follow the same footpath as me. It’s a dangerous road and I am tired.”

You noticed the visible wrinkles on his face and the saggy eyes. He indeed looked tired. Way more tired than you remembered when you used to visit him for big family gatherings. 

“I hope she could be more like you. You know, less attracted to the violence and the darkness.”

**“** **_ADMIT IT YOU LOVE THE DARKNESS!”_ ** You forced the food down your throat and nodded. There was an awkward silence until Carmine broke it again. 

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there after your parents had the accident but I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

Silence.

“There’s a question I’ve been wanting to ask you regarding about my parents' death… did the car crash happen here, in Gotham?”

Carmine sighed again. “Yes, that is why I wanted Gotham to be the last resort for you. How did you know? Did Victor tell you?”

What? Victor knew about it?

“No, he didn’t.” You replied. Tracking back what happened today you realized that Victor changed the subject when you asked him about your parent’s death. 

Huh, smooth move. 

“Did I get any serious injuries?” You asked. 

“No, in fact, there wasn’t even a scratch on you.”

“...Not even any internal injuries like... brain damage?”

Carmine raised one of his brows. It was a very strange question to ask. “No, the doctors couldn’t find anything.”

“But how is that possible? Both of them died.”

“Life is a complete mystery, isn't it?”


	9. Bruce Wayne

You sat up in your bed wrapped around in blankets as the annoying repeating beeping sound of the alarm clock woke you up from your deep slumber. It was your first day of school in Gotham. Your eyes slowly shifted to the Pusheen plushie that Jerome won for you in the circus just like it did every single day you woke up. You wanted to get rid of it so badly, to just let it burn up in flames but you didn't have the guts. You hated to admit that you still like him and you're continuing to fall for him. You stared at it as memories of you and Jerome started flooding into your head.

**< <<<< flashback**

You sat down on the soft made bed that had an orange duvet on it. It was only natural that Jerome scooted over closer to you that your shoulders were touching each other. His eyes were still watery from his loss but there was still such a mysterious crazy sheen to it and it lured you in. He wrapped his finger around your hair and twirled a strip of your hair with the abnormal streak of blonde. 

“You’re such a mystery,” Jerome cooed raspily. 

“I could say the same for you,” you replied. 

Jerome smiled softly at you. “How’d you manage this,” he asked while still playing with the blonde bit of your hair. He seemed so awed about that one streak of hair like a child observing how cotton candy is made. 

“I’m not so sure but I’ve had it since I was young, maybe 3?” 

Jerome nodded silently. He swiped your hair behind the back of your ear and stared deep into your eyes. He leaned in with a passionate kiss. You felt his moist lips touch yours and his warm tongue started slipping in between the open mouths. 

  
  


**> >>>>> present**

  
  


The car slowly stopped and parked on the side of the road. The academy was right in front of you, a big medieval old brick building. You looked at the school with knots in your stomach. 

**< <<<<flashback**

You walked down the crowded hallway, alone to exit out of the school. Parents were holding their children's hands as they happily skipped along with them with grins and smiles on their faces. But you, you still walked alone. 

"Mummy, why hasn't that girl's parents picked her up yet?" A little child asked loudly beside you. 

The parents looked at you with dark faces and eyes filled with fear. 

"Don't say that dear, she's a Falcone," She whispered back but it was loud enough to hear. 

"Those mobsters are savages, don't go near her," the man murmured in a low voice. 

The family of 3 were soon far from you. 

**> >>>>>present **

“You gonna go in or what?” Victor asked slightly aggressively. 

You snapped out of your thoughts. “Yeah, I’m going,” you answered stiffly while unbuckling your seatbelt. 

Victor of course noticed the short rigid way you responded, he always noticed small details. “If anyone’s giving you a hard time, make sure you tell me. I’ll teach them a lesson or two.” 

You looked at Victor and smiled. You got out of the car with a sense of security and encouragement. 

“Thanks, Victor,” you said just before you shut the car door and started walking towards the direction of the school. 

You arrived at your first class and as usual, you were forced to stand up in front of the class and give yourself a brief introduction. If you had a choice to not say your last name you'd choose not to because of the reaction of the class. Low murmurs, eyes filled with fear, and hard judgemental glares. This was no different. 

The bell rang through the school for the lunch break. All students immediately packed up their stationary and the sound of chairs being pushed back clanged with each other. You decided to sneak away from the overcrowded cafeteria where everyone was and stayed outside in a secluded place under a fiery tree coloured with red and orange leaves. You lied down on the grass watching the white lofty clouds move slowly in the Autumn sky. Your heartbeat slowed and you started to feel relaxed, the uneasy thoughts of Jerome and the school slowly exited out of your mind until you heard loud sounds of laughter and a loud sound of the door slamming shut made you sit up from your position. You saw a short brunette boy that looked no older than 12 running away from the building onto the field. The boy looked down towards the ground and started wiping his eyes with his sleeves. You could hear the whimpers as he tried his best to restrict loud crying sounds. You saw orange stains on his white ironed shirt. You couldn't help but feel sorry and sympathy for him. 

You decided to walk up to him. "Hey," you said friendly as you gently put your hand on his shoulder. He obviously didn't notice you and jumped at the sudden company. He faced you and you saw the clear orange stains of pasta and his watery eyes looking back at you.

“Oh yikes, let’s get you cleaned up,” you said. 

You walked to the closest water fountain and the boy slowly trudged behind you while he was still whimpering and sniffing. You knelt down near his height and tried your best to wipe away and clean the stains with a damp tissue. 

“Thank you,” the 12 year old boy said quietly. 

“No worries,” you replied.

“I’m Bruce Wayne,” Bruce said while reaching out his hand for a handshake. 

“I’m Stella.” You went for the handshake. You couldn’t help but think why such a well mannered boy was bullied. But there was something else that was nagging your mind. The name Bruce Wayne lingered in your mind as it sounded so familiar but you soon forgot about it. You both started to talk throughout the lunch break both enjoying a pleasant calm break.

  
  


The last bell resounded throughout the whole school indicating that it was time to go back home. A big sigh of relief echoed throughout the school from the students. You exited out of the crowded hallway and exited out of the school. 

“Stella!” You heard a familiar young boy’s voice call out your name. 

You turned your head around to the call and spotted Bruce skipping up to you. He brought you to a sleek black car and an old man dressed in formal attire. “This is Alfred,” he introduced him while gesturing a respectful hand gesture. “Alfred this is Stella-”

“Falcone,” Alfred completed your name which brought a surprise to both you and Bruce. Bruce didn’t know you were a Falcone, you didn’t tell him, you would always skip the fact you were the Falcone. 

Did you make it to the papers? Does everybody know about Carmine Falcone’s niece? Are you being targeted? 

The worries started to show on your face. “How did you know?” You asked dryly. 

“Well I’ve known you since you were little,” the butler said in a British accent. 

You tilted your head. “Huh?”

“Thomas and Martha Wayne were great friends of your parents, I’d have to look after you when your parents would come over by the mansion.” 

Thomas, Martha Wayne? Oh… my dumbass. 

“Wayne Enterprises!” You let out. 

“Yes, Miss Falcone, I’ve got to say you’ve grown into a very fine young lady. Your parents would be proud.” Alfred said with a warm smile on his face. 

“Thank you, and you can just call me by Stella,” you replied back politely. 

“Alright, thank you for helping Bruce out, really appreciate it that someone could look after him when I'm not around-.” 

“We would really be glad to have you over for afternoon tea maybe,” Bruce cut in eagerly. 

You laughed a bit enjoying the warm welcome coming from both of them. “Yeah, that would sound lovely.” You agreed with a wide smile. But you had so many questions you wanted to ask about regarding your parents. 

You were just about to ask until a dark voice spoke behind you. "Let's get going." 

Both Alfred and Bruce tensed at the ghostly pale man that lurked behind you. To be honest you also tensed at how stealthy and quiet Victor was when he crept up to you. You waved a goodbye to Bruce and Alfred and obediently followed behind Victor to the car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy, sorry guys I haven't been active in ages. But now I have more time to write since I'm in a 2 week break. Thank you so much for waiting for my uploads <3 take care of yourselves and be safe~


	10. Afternoon Tea

“You f***king pedo going to a 12 year old boys house. I’ve got to make sure you don’t do something scandalous while you’re over there” Victor teased you.

“Oh my gosh, Victor!” You shouted in frustration. “Why do you always have to interpret everything so sexually,” you replied angrily while trying to punch him. 

Victor chuckles as he sees you failing every punch you throw at him. “Well don’t you look hella cute when you’re angry.” 

You paused. Assuming Victor was just messing with you. “Oh look who’s being the pedo now! You senile old man!” You shouted at him laughing while pointing a finger at him.

“Ok ok, go to school now, kiddo.” 

Victor watched you walk towards the academy. When you were far from plain sight he face palmed and dropped his head back on the seat. “F**k, wasn’t supposed to say that,” he mumbled underneath his breath. 

  
  


You stared at the blackboard boredly as the teacher is teaching the class what you already know. You looked out of the window beside you into the dark grey sky that Gotham always has. Your mind slowly drifted away from the class. Jerome kept on popping up into your mind. Your first kiss with him. His flaming red hair and his emerald green eyes. You shook it off and thought about other things that could distract you from him. You thought about starting a part time job in Gotham just like you did in every other place you’ve been in. It’s not as if your relatives never gave you money instead they gave you plenty of allowances every week. It’s more of the fact that you wanted to stay far away from the relatives. You knew they hated you, so you thought that maybe if you were further away from them you’ll feel less like a nuisance and a burden to them. But Carmine was different, he actually tried to look after you and he actually tried to put effort into catching up to what you have been doing in your life. And Gotham was quite amazing, apart from the traumatic experience with Jerome. But everything else was great, you've already made a good friend and Victor is such a great pal to hang around with as well. Gotham was just so much more interesting.

The last bell rang dismissing the students to go back home and enjoy their weekends. Bruce skipped up to you eagerly with a big smile on his face. As you both started talking and hanging out with each other during breaks you both started getting to know each other more and became close friends. Ever since that day he never gets bullied anymore. Whether it's because he was hanging out with a senior or whether he started standing up for himself. You both agreed that you would have afternoon tea at his place on Friday. 

You arrived at the Wayne Manor it seemed emptier and lonelier than the Falcone Manor without the guards trooping around the perimeter of the property. The inside was more or less the same with its dark colored furnitures and decors. However, it did feel more homey than the Falcone Manor. They brought you to a big spacious room filled with shelves of books, a blazing fireplace, and a coffee table in the middle surrounded by couches. Alfred left to the kitchen to prepare the food while you and Bruce talked like old friends. Alfred couldn’t help but peer through the door secretly and smile at the resemblance at how your parents and Bruce’s parents would talk to each other just the same way. 

As you and Bruce continued talking, in the corner of your eye you saw a dark figure silently slip in from the window. You instantly grabbed the closest object which was a big squishy cushion screaming, “Screw off, Victor!” and throwing it at the dark figure. 

“What the hell!” You heard a high pitched girl voice coming from the person that you realized that it definitely wasn’t Victor. 

The short petite person caught the big cushion and removed it from its face revealing a young girl that seemed about the same age as Bruce. Her brown hair was wildly curled, wearing black leather all over, goggles resting on her head and her hazel green eyes peering back at you. 

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I thought you were somebody else.” You apologized. 

Alfred came rushing into the room with an apron on and a kitchen knife in his hand. He relaxed and lowered the knife down as he saw the harmless girl standing in the room. 

“Selina, glad to have you back,” Bruce greeted with a smile on his face. 

“Yes, nice to have you back...again,” Alfred’s voice seemed a bit doubtful. 

Awkward silence.

“Well, the more the merrier, right?” You said lifting up the mood. 

“Yes, that’s right,” Alfred agreed, “I’ll be bringing in some food now.” He said while walking out. 

“Who are you?” Selina asked. 

“Stella, just a friend of Bruce.”

“I’m Selina Kyle.” 

Awkward silence.

“Selina said she saw my parent’s murderer, so she’s helping with the case,” Bruce informed. 

You nodded. “Do you always use the window as an entrance?” You asked. 

“Yeah,” she replied bluntly as she grabbed a doughnut from the tray Alfred just put on the table. 

You were still curious as to why she uses the window instead of a door. “Why?” 

Gosh, you sounded even more like a child than they are. 

“I live on the streets. It’s not the politest that survives, it's the stealthiest and the strongest that does.” 

“What about your parents?” 

“Don’t have any.” 

Huh, guess this is a room filled with orphans then. You grabbed one of the doughnuts and bit into the warmth of it. Mmm, this is delicious. 

“When you said, Victor were you talking about... Victor Zsasz?” She asked hesitantly. 

“Yeap.” You replied continuing to devour the doughnut. “Oh, I’m a Falcone so he’s kinda babysitting me.

Selina stiffened at the fact that you are a Falcone and that you had direct access to the mob boss and Gotham’s deadliest assassin. 

“You’re friends with a Falcone?!” Selina said in surprise. 

“What’s wrong with that?” Bruce asked.

“She could kill me!”

“...Uh no, I won’t and I’m right here you know.”

“It’s ok Stella is very nice, you didn’t even know she was a Falcone unless she told you.” 

“Of course I didn’t know.” 

“Yeah, exactly.”

“Huh?”

“Huh?” 

Aww cuties. 

There was a sharp knock on the door.

“Now who could that be?” Alfred asks himself while rushing up to the door. 

As the door opens a ghastly pale man dressed in a sleek black tuxedo is revealed. Alfred tensed. Victor was early. 

"I’m here for Stella.” 

Alfred smiles faintly. “Yes, sir.” He turned his head away from Victor. “Stella, your ride is here!” He informed. 

“Well, I guess I’m leaving then, have fun you two lovebirds,” you teased. 

“We are not lovebirds!!!” Selina and Bruce denied in unison. 

You shook your head with a smile and laughed at how cute they were. 

You walked out to the door and spotted Victor glaring at Alfred. You didn’t think Victor means to do that on purpose it’s just how he is. 

“Thank you so much for having me over, Alfred,” you said trying to make him feel more at ease. 

“No problem, Stella. You’re welcomed to come over whenever you like.” 

As you waved your goodbye to Alfred you spotted Selina and Bruce sneakily peering behind the door of the room. You could see Bruce pointing to Victor and Selina staring at him in horror and awe. You suspected that Victor saw them and shot them a cold glare because they froze for a bit and immediately darted back inside the room.


End file.
